An elderly woman from Meloor, Thrissur, was subjected to a horrifying cybercrime when scammers impersonating a police officer held her captive over a video call for over 36 hours, eventually duping her of ₹40,000.

The victim, Treesa, received a video call from a man dressed as a cop who claimed her mobile number was used in anti-national activities involving duplicate SIMs. He falsely linked her to a man named Sandeep Kumar, alleging foreign funds were being transferred using an account tied to her number.

The fraudster demanded ₹2.6 lakh for a supposed investigation. When Treesa attempted to pay by cheque, the transaction failed due to incomplete KYC. She was then pressured into transferring smaller amounts via UPI, totaling ₹40,000.

Disturbingly, the scammer ordered her to lock herself in her room, not speak to anyone, and claimed police were monitoring her. He warned she would be killed by “Sandeep’s men” if she informed anyone.

“I was mentally and physically exhausted. When I said I couldn’t take it anymore, they told me I could rest. That’s when it all felt wrong,” Treesa recounted. With her children abroad, only a relative was at home at the time.

Treesa has now lodged a formal complaint with the police. Authorities are investigating what they call a new level of psychological cyber control.

#CyberCrimeAlert #KeralaFraud #OnlineScam #ElderSafety